


Of Nooks and Crannies

by aceforwhatevenisthis



Series: Of That Old Bookshop [3]
Category: Good Omens (TV), Good Omens - Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett
Genre: Animals, Bakeries, Cats, Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, No beta we fall like Crowley, POV Outsider, Snake Crowley (Good Omens), Snakes, and cats don’t like snakes, aziraphale has a customer service voice, no sad boi hours here, poor college students, snakes don’t like cats
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-17
Updated: 2020-01-17
Packaged: 2021-02-27 06:34:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,224
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22292647
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aceforwhatevenisthis/pseuds/aceforwhatevenisthis
Summary: “Angel. There’s a boy in the ssshop,” Elijah heard a rough say in a not so low whisper.“That’s usually what happens when you have a shop, dear,” responded a much softer, kinder voice.“Angel, he has Ernest.”
Relationships: Aziraphale/Crowley (Good Omens)
Series: Of That Old Bookshop [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1593154
Comments: 10
Kudos: 273





	Of Nooks and Crannies

They always told him he was smart, that he would go places, that he would take the world by storm. But in reality, he couldn’t do anything if he didn’t have the money for it. And rather unfortunately, Elijah found himself in a tight spot. Newly integrated into British society, the American had gotten a scholarship to an old college not that far out from London. 

It was a nice college, albeit very small and not commonly known. They have him on-campus housing so he didn’t need to roam London for an apartment he couldn’t afford. The college also had a wide variety of texts in its library, providing student help to anything you wanted to know. (They were also apparently from an anonymous donor. The myth is that their name is forgotten in time.) Even with that, he needed research for his psychology thesis and his professors tried as much as they could to help him with it, but he still needed one missing piece for the paper to be complete. He just needed to find it. 

It was a nice Sunday afternoon and Elijah was feeling a bit peckish. He just happened to be in Soho and decided he should explore. He’s heard so much about little hole-in-the-wall restaurants with the best food in Soho, so might as well try finding one. 

Elijah wandered Soho for the better part of the day and finally found an unknown bakery that sold all sorts of desserts with a major focus on French pastries and bread. It was good food, even if he didn’t know most of the names. The old lady at the counter was sweet and patient with him. The girl (whom Elijah figured was about his age, maybe even younger) who helped the old lady laughed at his American accent while he tried to pronounce French names. It felt homey. 

He soon left, however, and took some leftovers with him. It was about mid-afternoon by the time he left the bakery and it was lightly snowing. It was the first snowfall of the year. He was standing by the crosswalk, waiting for the cars to pass, when he heard the smallest of noises below him. Elijah turned his head down and saw a fluffy calico with a chipped ear and the bluest of eyes. It was scrawny and meowing noisily at him, refusing to quiet down. He only stared at it. The cat brushed up against his bag of leftovers and circled around him. 

Elijah smiled. He kneeled down and opened his bag. The cat pounced inside, tearing at the bits of bread with enthusiasm. 

“Hey, kitty,” said Elijah. He cautiously reached his hand at the colorful creature and it leaned into the warm touch. “What are you doing here all on your own?” 

He felt around its neck as it ate nutritionless bread. Sure enough, he found a black collar that jingled as the cat moved. It had a tag on it. He turned it over.

_ Ernest — If found, please return to A.Z. Fell And Co., Soho _

Wait, that’s— 

Elijah turned his head quickly and located the bookshop he saw across the street. He gathered his bag gently to not rattle Ernest inside, and he ran across the street. 

The front door of the bookshop had a CLOSED sign but under it was a handwritten note. It gave Elijah a headache trying to read it so he tried the door instead. It was open. 

The young man poked his head inside, ignoring the loud protests coming from the calico car for having been rudely interrupted from finishing his snack. 

“Hello?” Elijah called out. “I know it says ‘closed,’ but—”

_ Hisssss. _

Elijah froze. Ernest the cat quieted immediately. 

There, peering at him from the top of a bookshelf, was a giant black snake with a bright red belly. It’s golden eyes did not look happy at all. It hissed at him again, more forcefully this time. 

So, a bookseller had a humongous snake  _ and  _ a cat in his shop. Not the strangest thing Elijah has seen but it’s definitely high up there. 

“Um,” Elijah said elegantly, wondering why he was talking to a snake. “Is the owner here?” 

The snake eyed him for a moment before slithering out of view. It took a few more minutes before Elijah heard rustling coming from the back of the shop. 

“Angel. There’s a boy in the ssshop,” Elijah heard a rough say in a not so low whisper.

“That’s usually what happens when you have a shop, dear,” responded a much softer, kinder voice. 

“Angel, he has Ernest.” There was an immediate, loud shuffling in the back of the antique shop. From it emerged a man with creamy, short, white hair. He wore a light blue dress shirt. 

He had the black snake curled around his neck. 

“May I help you, my dear?” the man said in a customer service voice. Elijah felt simultaneously safe and with a feeling of wanting to leave. 

He decided against it. “Um. Well, I found a cat—” Elijah gestured towards the bag, flicking his eyes to the snake with penetrating eyes. “And it had a collar so I just wanted to return him.” 

The intense glare of the snake softened. The man suddenly smiled kindly. “Oh, I do have to thank you, dear.” 

He extended his hand to reach for the bag and Elijah handed it over to him. Inside, Ernest meowed loudly and when the bag was put on the floor next to the man, the cat leaped up to a nearby counter and sat down. 

The blonde man used a hand to continuously pet the calico, which earned the snake’s glare to be redirected towards the cat, and Elijah gave a wobbly, awkward smile. 

“Um. Glad I could help,” he said, hand on the door handle. He cast his eyes momentarily on a shelf with various ancient books, one of which—

“Do come again. Whenever you please, dear. Once again, thank you for returning Ernest. He’s a bit of a rebel explorer,” said the man. 

Elijah gaped. The man looked at him with a questioning expression. 

“I- I’m sorry but I- Is it possible to-?” Elijah stammered. He took a deep breath and pointed to the shelf he saw. “Are those psychology books?” 

The blonde man turned. The snake wrapped itself closer to his body. “Oh! Yes, they are indeed. I’m afraid they’re not for sale, however.” 

Elijah gave a small laugh. “I probably wouldn’t be able to afford them either way. They look old and expensive. But, um, are any of those about the history of the brain? Or, just, maybe on biology?” 

The kind man brightened. He walked quickly to the shelf and picked out a title. “May I interest you in a first edition study of the brain from the 19th century?” 

Elijah didn’t think his jaw could drop lower than it already did. “No way.” 

“Is it just the thing you’re looking for?” 

“Yes! Oh, but I don’t want to annoy you for it. You said it’s not for sale.” 

“Yes, but I don’t mind as long as it doesn’t leave the shop. And I do humbly request you wear gloves. They can be rather delicate.” 

Elijah nodded excitedly. “Thank you so much, Mr—?”

“Aziraphale, dear.” 

“Thank you so much, Mr Aziraphale!” 

**Author's Note:**

> Elijah is an awkward boy TM
> 
> As always, comments and kudos are appreciated!! Love you guys <3


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